Department for Transport

High Speed 2 Railway Line: Wendover

Viscount Astor: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of HS2 Ltd's noise mitigation proposals for Wendover.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: Operational sound, noise and vibration assessments were undertaken for the additional noise mitigation at Wendover as part of Supplementary Environmental Statement 4 which accompanied the deposit of Additional Provision 5.

High Speed 2 Railway Line: Wendover

Viscount Astor: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether HS2 Ltd used current HM Treasury tunnel project modelling when they costed proposals for the Wendover short mined tunnel.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The cost estimate for the short mined tunnel proposals at Wendover were based on the specific topography at that location, the individual tunnel requirements and the appropriate construction rates.

High Speed 2 Railway Line: Wendover

Viscount Astor: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether HS2 Ltd considered examples of HS1 tunnel construction when they examined the case for the Wendover short mined tunnel.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The cost estimates proposals for a mined tunnel past Wendover were based on the specific requirements for the tunnel and topography of the route at this location.

High Speed 2 Railway Line: Wendover

Viscount Astor: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have received new evidence from OTB Engineering relating to the Wendover short mined tunnel; and whether, as a result, they will order a review of the engineering costs used by HS2 Ltd.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: HS2 Ltd received a copy of the OTB Engineering report on 25 October 2016. The report contains no evidence to suggest that the current cost estimates prepared by HS2 Ltd need reviewing.

Driving: First Aid

Lord Aberdare: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 27 September (HL1929), whether they will provide further details about the not-for-profit training programme for drivers in delivering first aid, including (1) the name of the programme; (2) a description of the programme; (3) details of the current status and scope of the programme; and (4) details of any plans to publish an assessment of the programme's efficacy.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: Driver First Assist was established with support from across the emergency services, to deliver a programme of work with the same name. It provides training for drivers in administering lifesaving first aid and managing the scene of a road traffic collision, prior to the arrival of the emergency services. The Department for Transport has awarded Driver First Assist a grant in 2016-17 to help it publicise its training programme. For large goods vehicle drivers the course will count towards their Driver Certificate of Professional Competence periodic training. To date, over 700 large goods vehicle drivers have been trained. The Department will evaluate the use of the grant in due course but has no specific plans to publish an assessment of the programme.

Railways: Compensation

Lord Moonie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much compensation was paid to passengers for delays and cancellations by each train operating company during the last year for which figures are available.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The compensation figures for all Train Operating Companies operating Delay Repay covering the years 2009-10 to 2014-15 are published on the GOV.UK website, and a copy of the full figures is provided in the attached document. Overall figures are below. Figures for the 2015-16 financial year for all Train Operating Companies are expected to be published on the GOV.UK website later this year. Amounts in £ (000s) 2014-15 - 25,6232013-14 - 22,6082012-13- 12,6032011-12 - 8,0212010-11 - 3,2562009 -10 - 2,981 



TOC - Compensation 2009/10-2014/5
(PDF Document, 174.08 KB)

Pedestrian Crossings: Schools

Baroness Pinnock: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether section 26 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 (as amended) permits school crossing patrols to be appointed and operated by schools or bodies other than the local authority.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The provision of the school crossing patrol service is a matter for the local authority. Legislation gives ‘Appropriate Authorities’ the power to make arrangements (for example with schools and other bodies) for the patrolling of places where children cross roads on their way to or from school, but does not impose a duty on them to do so. The legislation defines Appropriate Authorities outside Greater London as the council of the county, unitary authority or metropolitan district; there are slightly different arrangements in London and in Scotland.

Agricultural Machinery: Roads

Baroness Kennedy of Cradley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what advice they are giving to farmers to reduce the number of incidents of mud getting onto the roads.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: Vehicle operators, contractors and farmers who deposit mud on the road are potentially liable for a range of offences as set out in the Highways Act 1980 (as amended) and the Road Traffic Act 1988. Whilst the Department for Transport does not provide specific advice to farmers, the National Farmers Union provides advice in respect to mud on the road to their members through their website.

Driverless Vehicles

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what new regulations and other changes in legislation will be required before self-driving cars can be used on roads in the UK.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: We anticipate that a number of changes will be required to the regulatory framework for driving to facilitate the safe use of automated vehicle technology as it arrives to market. The document Pathway to driverless cars: a regulatory review sets out a number of areas in which these changes may need to take place. As technology continues to develop, we intend to keep our regulation under constant review and act quickly, so that we can all make use of the opportunities offered to us by the safe use of automated vehicle technology. To date, this has included a consultation in Summer 2016 on proposals to support near to market advanced driver assistance systems and insurance for automated vehicles.

Driverless Vehicles

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether self-driving wheel-based robots can be used on British highways, and if so, in what circumstances; whether they are covered by road traffic and other highways legislation; whether third party insurance is required for their use; and whether such robots must carry information as to their owners and operators and, when used for the purposes of transporting goods, the nature of those goods.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: It is possible to test automated vehicles on the UK's roads. Our world-leading Code of Practice clearly and simply sets out that tests must be carried out in line with UK law and that there must be: a driver or operator who is present, ready, able and willing to take control if necessary; appropriate insurance in place; and the vehicle must be road worthy. In terms of enabling the safe use of automated vehicle technology, we have embarked on a rolling programme of regulatory reviews. The first wave of this programme began earlier this year with our consultation on insurance for automated vehicles and changes to the regulatory framework for driving for advanced driver assistance systems. We now intend to take forward automated vehicle insurance measures in the Modern Transport Bill as announced in this year's Queens Speech.

Aircraft: Air Conditioning

The Countess of Mar: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the diversion to Vancouver on 25 October of BA flight 286 from San Francisco to London after crew members become unwell, and in the light of reports that the cabin air was contaminated, whether British passengers on that flight are entitled to medical screening to ascertain whether they have been affected; and if so, where they should apply to receive that screening.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: All passengers on BA Flight 286 disembarked from the aircraft safely, however crew members attended various hospitals in Vancouver, as a precaution. It is not clear what the cause of the crew's symptoms was, however the incident was reported to Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). If passengers are unwell they should seek medical attention, but no special arrangements are in place for medical screening.  Passenger and crew safety is of paramount importance. The Department for Transport and the CAA are constantly working to enhance safety standards.

Buses: Inspections

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of buses and coaches are checked between annual inspections by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency in order to ensure that they remain compliant with the law.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The current Great Britain (GB) Public Service Vehicles (PSV) fleet of buses and coaches is approximately 80,000. In 2015/16 the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) examined 8,485 GB vehicles for roadworthiness. This represents around 10.6% of the fleet seen between annual test. Further, DVSA examined 5,161 GB vehicles for traffic offences in the same period. This represents around 6.4% of the fleet

Cycleways: Greater London

Lord Black of Brentwood: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact on London's traffic of the introduction of cycle superhighways.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: Transport in London is devolved to the Mayor of London, and cycle superhighways and their impact on traffic flows in the capital are entirely a matter for him.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Energy: Consumption

Lord Donoughue: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much energy was consumed by the UK during the period 24 to 31 October; and what percentage of that energy was sourced from wind generation.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: UK electricity statistics for October 2016 are not yet available. They will be published on 22 December at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/electricity-section-5-energy-trends. The most recent data to August 2016 is available via that link. Electricity statistics held by BEIS cover monthly consumption and cannot be disaggregated at a daily or weekly level. However, operationally metered electricity generation for Great Britain (1) is published by the National Grid. For the period 24 to 31 October (8 days), 6.6 TWh was generated or imported, of which 0.3 TWh was generated from wind (5.0 percent) (2). Operationally metered wind electricity generation covers 65 percent of total GB wind capacity. Source: National Grid (1) Excludes Northern Ireland, which is not covered by the National Grid.(2) The source of imported electricity generation is not recorded in these data.

Fracking

Lord Hunt of Chesterton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in developing their policy on fracking, whether they have taken into account the number of earthquakes which measured 3.0 on the Richter Scale in Oklahoma and other places in the US where fracking has been carried out.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: We have ensured that strong controls are in place to mitigate seismic risks. Operators in the UK must avoid hydraulically fracturing near faults, and must monitor seismic activity before, during and after operations. Operations will halt if seismic activity exceeds a magnitude of 0.5 or greater on the Richter scale, and the pressure of fluid in the well will be reduced immediately.Studies in the United States(1) have shown that most induced seismicity is caused by re-injection of waste and produced waters from oil and gas operations, both conventional and unconventional. Re-injection of waste and produced waters will not be permitted from shale gas wells in the UK.(1) http://earthquake.usgs.gov/research/induced/myths.php

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Commonwealth: Finance

Lord Bowness: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the contribution provided by the UK to (1) the Commonwealth Secretariat Fund, (2) the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation, and (3) the Commonwealth Youth Programme, in each of the last two years.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: In the Commonwealth financial year 2014/15 the UK provided £5.4 million to the Commonwealth Secretariat, £8.9 million to the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation and £1.03 million to the Commonwealth Youth Programme. In the Commonwealth financial year 2015/16 the UK provided £5.4 million to the Commonwealth Secretariat, £8.9 million to the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation and £1.03 million to the Commonwealth Youth Programme.Funding to the Commonwealth Secretariat has allowed it to promote democracy, rule of law, human rights, good governance and social and economic development, provide a voice for small states and also become a champion for youth empowerment.The Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation is the principal avenue for the Commonwealth to provide technical assistance to Commonwealth member countries. All Commonwealth regions benefit from technical assistance, with the largest share of support directed towards Africa, followed by the Caribbean and Pacific regions.Funding towards the Commonwealth Youth Programme helps to empower young women and men to develop their potential, creativity and skills as productive and dynamic members of their societies.

Cabinet Office

Electoral Register: Internet

Lord Rennard: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen on 26 October (HL2496) concerning progress in assessing the benefits of an online registration checking tool, what assessment they have made of (1) the extent to which an online registration checking tool could increase electoral registration levels by enabling people to check whether or not they are already registered before attempting to register online, and (2) the amount of time election administration staff would spend checking for duplicate registrations; and how they intend to take into consideration the relative importance of each of those benefits when assessing options.

Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen: As stated in my previous answer to HL 2496, the Government is currently conducting a “discovery phase” in relation to understanding the issue of duplicate applications. It is right that we will need to meet the needs both of citizens and administrators when considering the right way forward. In discussions with administrators and others to date, it has become clear there are wide-ranging views on whether citizens would use a look-up tool in practice. There are also wide-ranging views on the kind of intervention that would most benefit administrators. That is why our evidence-gathering phase is so important. This discovery phase is also important for us to understand the practical considerations of the different possible solutions.

Government Departments: Computer Software

Baroness Kramer: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much each government department has spent on subscriptions for IT software used by office-based departmental staff in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen: The information requested is not held centrally.

House of Lords: Select Committee Reports

Baroness Young of Old Scone: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of House of Lords Select Committee reports received a Government response within the two months period set out in paragraph 11.39 of the Companion to the Standing Orders and Guide to the Proceedings of the House of Lords in the years (1) 2009–10, (2) 2015–16, and (3) 2016–17 to date.

Baroness Young of Old Scone: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many House of Lords Select Committee reports published in the (1) 2015–16, and (2) current, session of Parliament, except those published within the last two months, have not received a Government response.

Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen: Following discussions last year between the Leader of the House of Lords and the then Chairman of the Liaison Committee, data on response times is now collected and made available by the House of Lords Committee Office. The Liaison Committee's annual reports set out which Select Committee reports required Government responses and when those responses were sent. The figures for 2015-16 are included in the Committee's report, Investigative Select Committee Activity in Session 2015-16 (1st Report of Session 2016-17). The figures for this session will be published in due course. The Government values the work of Select Committees and will always aim to respond to reports within two months. However, it will often be the case that formulating responses require discussions across a range of departments and stakeholders, which means that in some cases they can take longer.

Department for International Development

Sudan: Poverty

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the percentage of the population of Sudan living below the poverty line; how many persons are estimated to be living as refugees or displaced people in Sudan; and what has been the total UK aid funding for Sudan since the State's creation.

Lord Bates: The latest World Bank poverty data noted that 46.5% of the population were below the national poverty line in Sudan. Figures from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimate that there are up to 3.2 million internally displaced persons in Sudan, of which 2.6 million are long term displaced in Darfur alone. OCHA also outline that Sudan plays host to approximately 386,283 refugees from neighbouring countries.Over the last five decades, the UK has always been one of the largest providers of aid to the Sudanese people. UK bilateral Overseas Development Assistance spent in Sudan, from 2011-2014, totalled £269,023,000. The figures for 2015 will be published on 17 November.

Sudan: Religious Freedom

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of the UK aid budget for Sudan is used to promote freedom of religion or belief; and what assessment they have made of the penalties imposed by Sudanese courts if a man or woman exercises their right to change their beliefs.

Lord Bates: Through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s (FCO) Conflict, Stability and Security Fund a programme worth £100,000, is focussing on the reform of the teaching of religious education in Sudan, and the promotion of religious tolerance. In 2015 and 2016 an FCO-funded project in Sudan brought together legal experts, religious leaders and civil society members to challenge social and legal barriers to freedom of religion or belief.Freedom of religion or belief in Sudan remains a concern and is a core part of our ongoing human rights dialogue with the Government of Sudan. This dialogue calls on the Government of Sudan to ensure all legislation is consistent with the commitment to their citizens in the Interim Constitution of 2005, within which religious freedom is enshrined.

Department for Education

Schools: Nurses

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of comments by the Children’s Commissioner for England on the impact of bureaucracy on the ability of school nurses to promote children’s well-being.

Lord Nash: It is important that there is clarity about the roles that school nurses should, and should not, take on. That is why Public Health England (PHE) and its partners published a model specification for commissioning services for 0-19, in order to help inform decisions around the commissioning of the school nursing service and integrated services for school-aged children and young people.PHE has also developed a number of professional pathways and guidance to support local delivery of school nursing services, including safeguarding. This guidance is currently being reviewed by partners, including National Health Service England (NHSE), and is expected to be published in early-spring 2017.Adoption of technology is one way of addressing the burden of paperwork. Many services are now using technology and digital platforms to improve productivity and access, particularly for young people who may not usually access services through more traditional methods.

Disabled Students' Allowances

Lord Addington: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that students with Education Health and Care Plans are being made aware of recent changes to the Disabled Students allowance process.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: Local Authorities must make young people with Education, Health and Care Plans aware of the support available to them in higher education and how to claim it. Additionally, Student Finance England provides information, advice and guidance for all students about the support available whilst undertaking a course of higher education, including Disabled Students’ Allowances.

Higher Education: Disability

Lord Addington: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what monitoring is being undertaken to ensure that all colleges providing higher education are aware of their duties and responsibilities in bands 1 and 2 support for disabled students.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: All higher education institutions (HEIs) have a duty to make reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010, and for ensuring they comply with the Equality Act’s provisions in respect of disabled students. The Department is facilitating a sector- led group, the Disabled Students Sector Leadership Group, to provide information to HEIs to help them to respond effectively to the changes. This Group expects to publish guidance shortly.

Higher Education: Disability

Lord Addington: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the number of potential students with disabilities being refused registration at a college without Disabled Student Allowance support because that college is unable to financially support them.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: The Equality Act specifically prohibits Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) from refusing to enroll students as a result of their disability. The Department does not hold information on whether HEIs comply with this requirement in particular instances.

Higher Education: Disability

Lord Addington: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether steps are being taken, by the Disabled Students Allowance Quality Assurance Group or otherwise, to quality assure higher education institutions which provide non-medical support to disabled students outside the Disabled Students Allowance system for procuring accredited support.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: Non-medical support, provided by a higher education institution as a reasonable adjustment under the Equality Act, falls outside the scope of Disabled Students’ Allowances. Therefore, it falls outside the remit of the Disabled Students’ Allowances Quality Assurance Group. As independent, autonomous organisations, higher education institutions are responsible for quality assuring the support they provide.

Universities: Admissions

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the remarks made by the Chief Executive of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development that the growth in university education has led to a mismatch of skills in the labour market.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: An increase in university graduates does not need to come at the expense of other routes into highly skilled employment. Nearly 60% of the country’s working age population still do not have a Level 4+ qualification. It is also not a stark choice for young people to choose between technical or academic education, as they can and should choose the right track for them.The Skills Plan, in responding to the Sainsbury recommendations, makes clear that technical education must always be about developing the skills, knowledge and behaviours required for a specific occupation. This Government is focused on strengthening the education system to enable everybody to achieve their potential and to ensure that once and for all, we address the gap in skills at technical and higher technical levels that affects the nation’s productivity.

Pupils: Ethnic Groups

Lord Scriven: To ask Her Majesty’s Government why, in the original guidance on the national schools census, schools were asked to collect or ascribe information on the ethnicity of children.

Lord Nash: The DfE has been collecting data about pupils attending schools in England through the School Census for over ten years. The data is collected termly and supports a number of DfE’s strategic objectives. It is widely used by DfE for the purpose of improving, and promoting, the education or well-being of all pupils in England. For example, data on disadvantaged or special educational needs pupils enable the department to target support to where it is needed most. Ethnic background data is regarded as sensitive personal data. Parents and pupils have always had the right to refuse to provide this information. From 2011, if a parent or pupil refused to provide this information, schools should record “refused” in their systems rather than recording an ethnic background for that pupil. Up to 2010 the ethnic monitoring guidance provided by the Department permitted the ascription of ethnicity by schools where certain safeguards were met. In 2011 the ability for schools to ascribe the ethnicity for pupils was removed from the guidance.

Pupils: Ethnic Groups

Lord Scriven: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the number of schools which ascribed ethnicity to children whose nationality and country of birth details were not filled in by a parent as part of the national schools census; and what steps they have taken to ensure that schools fully understand that this information is not required.

Lord Nash: Schools collect and use data to support the effective day to day running of their school. Schools capture this data within their own management information systems (MIS). They are free to purchase an MIS of their choice and some of the data held in this system is then shared with DfE when legally permitted to do so. Some MIS contain an option for schools to ascribe ethnicity however this information is not captured by DfE and the Schools Census guidance (May 2016) is clear that parents or pupils may choose to withhold information on nationality, country of birth or ethnicity if they so wish. The guidance also states that there is no requirement for schools to request, or see, documentary evidence such as a passport or birth certificate to ascertain information on nationality and country of birth. To address any uncertainties regarding how information should be collected, I have placed an information note in the House Libraries. We are also continuing to work with the sector to consider how we can better support schools in collecting school census data for future rounds.

Pupils: Passports

Lord Scriven: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the number of schools which have asked for pupils’ passport numbers or expiry dates as part of the national schools census; and what steps they have taken to ensure that schools fully understand that this information is not required.

Lord Nash: The Department for Education Schools Census guidance (May 2016) clearly states that there is no requirement for schools to request, or see, any documentary evidence such as a passport or birth certificate to ascertain information on nationality and country of birth. Additionally, the guidance states that parents may choose to withhold this information if they so wish. The School Census does not collect passport numbers or expiry dates, and this information is not collected by the Department. We are aware that some schools collect passport details and hold them on their Management Information Systems. This is something requested by schools themselves – for example for school trips. This is a matter for Management Information System providers and schools. To address any uncertainties, I have placed an information note in the House Libraries. This note has also been published on the Department’s public website. We know there has been some confusion and some schools have asked parents for passports or birth certificates. We will work with the sector to consider how we can better support schools in collecting school census data for future rounds.

Special Educational Needs

Lord Watson of Invergowrie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how the new standard assessment tests were trialled for children with special educational needs.

Lord Nash: All National Curriculum tests undergo an exhaustive three-year development process entailing several stages of expert review. These experts include educational psychologists, SEND practitioners from local authorities, teachers and head teachers. The Standards and Testing Agency (STA) uses the principles of universal design in developing these tests, which are set out in Ofqual’s Guidance on the Principles of Language Accessibility in National Curriculum Assessments, a copy of which is attached. This document includes guidance to ensure tests are “fair to all irrespective of gender, language, religion, ethnic or social origin or disability”. During the test development process, the STA specifically consults on inclusion issues for every test. The STA also invites a range of specialists to sit on inclusion panels which review the tests twice in the process. The focus of these panels is to make the tests as accessible as they can be to all pupils. Inclusion panels vary in their membership but comprise a broad range of inclusion experience and an educational psychologist sits on each panel. Trials are also undertaken which involve around 1,000 children sitting each test, and schools are able to request modified versions of the tests if required to take account of pupils with SEND. We recently published the report of the Rochford Review of assessment for pupils working below the standard of the national curriculum tests. This review was set up to ensure pupils working below the standard of the national curriculum are given proper consideration and that an appropriate solution for statutory assessment is developed to allow them to demonstrate attainment and progress. We plan to launch a consultation on the recommendations contained in the report early in the New Year.



Ofqual Guidance on the principles of accessibility
(PDF Document, 1.87 MB)

GCE A-level

The Earl of Clancarty: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are taking steps to ensure that A-levels in (1) art history, and (2) archaeology, continue to be offered to new students.

Lord Nash: It is disappointing that AQA has taken the decision to withdraw from offering A levels in History of Art and Archaeology. We published content for both subjects in January 2016. The option for AQA or another exam board to develop specifications in future will remain open. We are in discussion with the exam boards on this issue. Neither subject is a pre-requisite for degree level study, and both are taken by a relatively small number of students. In 2015/16, there were 340 entries to A level Archaeology, and 776 entries to A level History of Art[1]. [1] Both figures cover examination results of students aged 16, 17 or 18 at the start of the academic year, i.e. 31 August.

Apprentices

Lord Aberdare: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to increase awareness of the available post-16 apprenticeship options among parents, teachers and pupils.

Lord Nash: The Government is undertaking a range of activities to increase awareness of the available post-16 apprenticeship options among parents, teachers and pupils.The four-year ‘Get In Go Far’ campaign, which launched in May 2016, aims to influence public perceptions, awareness and attitudes towards apprenticeships as a route into a successful career. It also aims to help young people aged 14-24 get the skills they need and encourage more young people to apply and more employers to offer apprenticeship opportunities.Schools have a statutory duty to provide independent careers guidance for 12-18 year olds, including information about apprenticeships. The National Careers Service provides independent, professional advice on careers, skills and the labour market, including information on the benefits of apprenticeships and how to apply for vacancies. The Careers and Enterprise Company has a lead role in transforming the provision of careers, enterprise and employer engagement experiences for young people to inspire them and prepare them for the world of work. Apprenticeships are an essential part of this inspiration and preparation, which the Company are promoting through its nationwide Enterprise Adviser Network, which now has almost 1200 Advisers in place, and other programmes including its £5m 'Careers and Enterprise Investment Fund’.The Skills Funding Agency (SFA) engages with schools to promote apprenticeships, including through the ‘Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge for Schools project’; ‘Apprenticeship Champions’ in schools across England, and the ‘Amazing Apprenticeships’ schools’ resources portal. The SFA Young Apprenticeship Ambassador Networks and Employer Ambassadors raise awareness of apprenticeships, partnering with UCAS to test the early advertising of higher and degree vacancies to Year 13 students applying for university.

Schools: Pedestrian Crossings

Baroness Pinnock: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether (1) academies, (2) free schools and (3) independent schools have powers to fund the cost of school crossing patrols.

Lord Nash: Academies and free schools have powers in their funding agreements to pay for school crossing patrols, if they choose to do so. The model funding agreement provides that an Academy Trust can spend General Annual Grant on the normal running costs of the academy, this can include spending on school crossing patrols. Under section 50 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998, local authority maintained schools can also undertake lawful activity that is for the purpose of the school, including paying for school crossing patrols. Independent schools are private bodies and can also fund school crossing patrols.

Schools: Pedestrian Crossings

Baroness Pinnock: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether consideration has been given to amending the regulations in the School and Early Years Finance (England) Regulations 2013 which specifically exclude the use of a local authority’s non-schools education budget for funding school crossing patrols.

Lord Nash: As spending on school crossing patrols is classified, for accounting purposes, as local transport spending rather than education services, it would not be appropriate to include school crossing patrols in the School and Early Years Finance (England) Regulations 2013 to enable such patrols to be funded from local authority schools or non-schools education budgets. However, local authorities are able to fund school crossing patrols from other non-ring fenced resources such as council tax and business rate income made available through the local government finance settlement. Additionally, there is nothing to stop schools using their delegated budgets to fund a service that is not strictly educational but clearly in the interest of the school, such as health services, transport or crossing patrols.

Academies: Admissions

Lord Porter of Spalding: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many requests for directions to admit a child to an academy the Education Funding Agency has received from councils since its establishment on 1 April 2012; and how many such directions were issued in the last four years.

Lord Nash: The Education Funding Agency (EFA) has received 121 requests for directions to admit a child to an academy from Local Authorities since its establishment on 1 April 2012 to 31 October 2016. These requests have resulted in the EFA issuing 15 directions to admit over the same period.

Civil Partnerships

Baroness Gould of Potternewton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the light of the introduction of different-sex civil partnerships on the Isle of Man, they intend to issue a consultation on extending civil partnerships to different-sex couples in the UK.

Lord Nash: The Government has already carried out a consultation on the future of civil partnerships in 2014, and has no plans to carry out another consultation on this issue.Following the passage of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013, we carried out a full review of the operation and future of the Civil Partnership Act 2004, which included a thorough public consultation on potential changes to civil partnership. Views were invited on three options: abolishing civil partnerships; phasing them out; or extending them to opposite sex couples. The review found that there was no clear consensus on the future of civil partnerships. A majority of respondents to the consultation were against extending civil partnerships to opposite sex couples and a significant number of stakeholders thought it was too soon to consider making changes to civil partnerships until the impact of extending marriage to same sex couples is known. Given the lack of any consensus, the Government has no current plans to make changes to the Civil Partnership Act 2004.

Children: Day Care

Lord Willis of Knaresborough: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether county councils are required to pass on to registered and approved providers 100 per cent of government funding allocated for childcare.

Lord Nash: Funding for the early years entitlement is underpinned by the School and Early Years Finance Regulations. Local authorities receive funding from central Government to deliver the early years entitlements through the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG), which also includes the budgets for schools and high needs. The current regulations do not require local authorities to pass on all early years funding to their providers. Local authorities, in consultation with their Schools Forum, are responsible for deciding how best to distribute the funding across their locality. The current regulations do allow local authorities to hold back some funding from the DSG for central services. However, when the two year old entitlement was introduced there was an expectation for local authorities to pass all available funding to providers for delivering two year old places. Under the early years funding reform proposals on which we recently consulted, there will be a requirement for local authorities to pass on at least 93% (in 2017-18) and 95% (thereafter) of their early years budget directly to providers for delivering the three and four year old entitlement. We are currently considering responses to the consultation.

Children: Day Care

Lord Willis of Knaresborough: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, should childcare providers be unable to meet the costs of providing the 30 hours free OFSTED-approved childcare service from September 2017, what plans there are to ensure that alternative services are available.

Lord Nash: The Government is making a record-level of investment in early years to ensure that childcare providers receive sufficient funding to deliver the 30-hour entitlement. This includes increasing spending on the free entitlements by over £1 billion per year by 2019-20 and providing £300 million per year from 2017-18 for a significant increase to the rate paid for the two, three- and four-year-old entitlements. We believe that the childcare market will respond to meet the additional demand for places generated by the extension of the free entitlement. The market has already demonstrated that it is able to respond through the roll-out of the entitlement for disadvantaged two-year-olds introduced in the last Parliament. In January 2016, over 166,000 two-year-olds benefitted from the funded early education, with over 20,000 providers delivering it.

Ministry of Justice

Immigration: Appeals

Baroness Lister of Burtersett: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of individuals pursuing appeals in (1) the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber), and (2) the Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber), did not have legal representation and appeared as litigants in person in the last year for which figures are available.

Lord Keen of Elie: The information requested is not held centrally.

Ellie Butler

Lord Warner: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the President of the Family Court about the scope for judicial learning arising from the case of Ellie Butler.

Lord Keen of Elie: In a regular meeting to discuss family justice on 15th September, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Justice, Dr Philip Lee and the President of the Family discussed how professionals, including the judiciary, can best learn from Serious Case Reviews.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Gaming Machines

Lord Donoughue: To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the Department for Culture, Media and Sport set a six-week deadline to respond to its Review of Gaming Machines and Social Responsibility Measures announced on 24 October.

Lord Ashton of Hyde: As part of the review, a call for evidence was issued. A period of 6 weeks was considered sufficient to allow interested parties to prepare and submit their evidence. My officials will be meeting with interested parties during this period to address any questions and give guidance where required.

Kids Company

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, following the closure of the Kids' Company charity in August 2015, what the £3 million they granted to Kids' Company in June 2015 was used for.

Lord Ashton of Hyde: Following a Ministerial Direction in the summer of 2015, Cabinet Office awarded the Charity Kids Company a grant of £3m to enable them to restructure and deliver a transformation and downsizing plan. However, due to the announcement that the Metropolitan Police was to investigate Kids Company in relation to safeguarding issues, other funding sources withdrew their support, making the organisation unsustainable. We are currently in negotiation with the Official Receiver in relation to retrieving the Grant funds.

Department for Work and Pensions

Employment: Disability

Baroness Garden of Frognal: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to address discrimination towards deafblind people and those with complex needs in the workplace, and how they will ensure that employers make essential adjustments needed by deafblind people to perform their roles successfully.

Lord Freud: ‘Improving Lives the Work, Health and Disability Green Paper’ has been published. This marks the start of a wide ranging exploration into options for long-term reform across different sectors, targeting factors which contribute to the disability employment gap. We are engaging with a range of stakeholders, including organisations such as Sense, that represents the needs of deafblind people, during a consultation period that will run until 17 February 2017. The Government wants all disabled people and people with a long term health condition to have the opportunity to work and share in the economic and health benefits that work brings. Section 20 of the Equality Act 2010 requires employers and providers of services to members of the public to make ‘reasonable adjustments’, so that disabled people are not placed at a “substantial disadvantage” compared to non-disabled people. The Access to Work scheme provides a dedicated service to particular groups, including those with complex needs, going beyond employers’ statutory obligations to make reasonable adjustments.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade: Hanoi

Lord Hague of Richmond: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions ministers are having with non-governmental organisations ahead of the Hanoi Conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade in November.

Lord Hague of Richmond: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what approach they intend to take in relation to the Hanoi Conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade in November.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: The UK has a strong record as a global leader in the fight against the illegal wildlfe trade, and remains committed to working with our international partners to bring an end to this scourge. We have been leading ambitious international agreements in this area and are supporting Vietnam to host a third high level conference on 17 November which builds on theground-breaking London and Botswana Conferences in 2014 and 2015. Building on this we The Government have provided specific funding for the conference, and is providing ongoing advice and support through the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs will attend the Conference, as will HRH Duke of Cambridge. The Government is working closely with Vietnam to support a successful conference that secures high level attendance that will maintain political momentum. In particular we want to focus on encouraging countries, including Vietnam itself, to take concerted action on the commitments they have already made. Officials, both in London and Hanoi, have been in regular contact with a range of NGOs concerning preparations for the Conference, and anticipate continuing to do so up to and at the Conference. We are investing millions in projects around the world to tackle IWT on the ground. We have already committed £13 million to practical action around the world to reduce demand, strengthen enforcement and develop sustainable livelihoods for communities affected by IWT, primarily through Defra’s Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund.

Elephants: Conservation

Lord Hague of Richmond: To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the UK voted against the upgrading of elephant populations remaining in Appendix II to Appendix I at the recent Convention on International Trade and Endangered Species conference.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: The UK Government is committed to tackling the crisis facing the African elephant from poaching and illegal trafficking. We fully support the existing global ban on ivory trade. The view of the UK and the EU was that the large and growing elephant populations of southern Africa did not meet the scientific criteria established by CITES for their inclusion in Appendix I of the Convention.

Ivory: Sales

Lord Hague of Richmond: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are proposing to take to implement the text in Convention on International Trade and Endangered Species (CITES) document CoP17 Com. II. 6 (revisions to CITES Conf. 10.10 (Rev. CoP16), calling for the end of any domestic ivory trade "contributing to poaching or illegal trade".

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: We will be working with EU Member States to consider our approach to Resolution 10.10 (Rev Cop16) as amended and any necessary changes to the EU Wildlife Trade Regulations to implement the decisions made at the 17th meeting of the Conference of Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). In doing this, we will also draw upon the Council Conclusions on an EU Action Plan against Wildlife Trafficking agreed in June which ask Member States not to export or re-export raw, old ivory from elephants and to consider further measures to stop the commercial trade in ivory, an outcome the UK actively negotiated to secure. In addition, prior to the CITES Conference on 21 September 2016, Defra’s Secretary of State announced plans for a ban on sales of items containing ivory dated between 1947 and the present day. The Government will consult on plans for the ban early next year. This is a key step forward as we work towards our manifesto commitment to press for a total ban on ivory sales.

Ivory: Sales

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: To ask Her Majesty’s Government which authority or authorities are responsible for upholding the ban on the sale of ivory items created or carved after 1947, and what training is provided to enable employees working in those authorities to distinguish items created or carved after 1947 from antique ivory items.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: The police and the National Crime Agency (NCA) are responsible for enforcing the legislation on the sale of ivory in the UK under the Control of Trade in Endangered Species (Enforcement) Regulations 1997. Training is provided to police and NCA officers on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). When enforcing these controls, the police look for documentary evidence, including details of origin; that the ivory was legally acquired; and is still legal for commercial use. If further investigation is needed, there is the potential to use carbon dating techniques which are currently the most reliable method used by law enforcement to accurately identify an age for ivory. This expert advice is provided by the National Wildlife Crime Unit or the CITES authority, which are available to officers to assist in these investigations.

Natural England

The Earl of Sandwich: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the average length of time taken by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to hear appeals against decisions by Natural England once the adjudication process has been completed.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: The time taken to determine agri-environment appeals will vary depending on the nature of the appeal, the complexity and the legislation involved.

Animals: Post-mortems

Lord Trees: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, for each year since 2012, what is the number of (1) carcases, and (2) diagnostic samples, submitted to each of the Veterinary Investigation Centres and contractor post-mortem examination facilities.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: The number of carcases submitted to each of the Veterinary Investigation Centres and contractor post-mortem examination facilities for each year from 2012 to 27 October 2016 is shown in Table 1 attached.The number of diagnostic samples submitted to each of the Veterinary Investigation Centres and contractor post-mortem examination facilities for each year from 2012 to 27 October 2016 is shown in Table 2 attached.It should also be noted that since 2012 the number of Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) and non-APHA facilities has changed as a result of ‘Surveillance 2014’, the public consultation, Ministerial agreements and subsequent APHA project that made changes to the way veterinary scanning surveillance is delivered in England and Wales. As part of this some of the former Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency Regional Laboratory sites closed and the non-APHA facilities began operations from late 2014 to provide post-mortem examination (PME) services only. However, in addition to carcase submissions to the non-APHA contractor PME facilities, a small number of non-carcase diagnostic samples have also been received at these facilities.



PQ HL2712 - Tables 1 and 2
(PDF Document, 59.18 KB)

Animals: Post-mortems

Lord Trees: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the number of carcases and diagnostic samples submitted to each of the Veterinary Investigation Centres and contractor post-mortem examination facilities in each year since 2012 is representative of the animal populations in the areas they cover.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: The main aim of scanning surveillance activities performed by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) and the five non-APHA post-mortem examination partners in England and Wales is the timely detection and investigation of animal-related new and re-emerging diseases and threats in livestock and wildlife species. The representativeness of these surveillance activities with regard to the animal populations in the areas that they cover varies, and this is subject to a number of factors. Furthermore, scanning surveillance activities performed to achieve the main aim comprise more than just the throughputs and examination of carcases and diagnostic samples. The Surveillance Intelligence Unit of the APHA, which was established in 2014, now monitors engagement with the surveillance network and maps this by species as a ratio of each livestock population. The engagement across England and Wales is not uniform. Areas of higher livestock density for a particular species tend to have higher engagement ratios. The Quarterly Emerging Threats reports are available on the Government’s website on the APHA animal disease surveillance reports page.

Dormice: Conservation

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to prevent the decline in the population of hazel dormice in the UK and to support dormice research projects.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: The Government is taking action to tackle the decline of the common or hazel dormouse, a European Protected Species. This includes Natural England’s Species Recovery Programme targeted at species in rapid decline or at greatest risk of extinction.Natural England works closely with the People’s Trust for Endangered Species providing funding for the national dormice monitoring scheme and re-introduction projects such as the re-introduction this summer of 38 dormice in woodland in the Yorkshire Dales National Park.Agri-environment and woodland schemes such as Environmental Stewardship and now Countryside Stewardship fund the provision of habitats, for instance the management of grassland, the conservation and enhancement of hedgerow systems and the creation and maintenance of field margins, which encourage a range of species, including the hazel dormouse.

Home Office

Passports

Lord Blencathra: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 29 July (HL1278), what plans they have to conduct research into the public demand for a UK-only style passport following the UK’s withdrawal from the EU; and, if changes to the passport are introduced, what plans they have to ensure that applications for the new style passport will be managed, and new passports issued, in a timely manner.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: No decisions have been made about any possible changes to the UK passport and the timings around any potential changes.

British Nationals Abroad: Middle East

Lord Blencathra: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 16 September (HL1580), what actions would amount to engaging in the conflict in Syria and Iraq without constituting a criminal offence.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: The UK advises against all travel to Syria and parts of Iraq. Anyone who does travel, for whatever reason, is putting themselves in considerable danger. People seeking to travel to engage in the conflict should be in no doubt we will take the strongest possible action to protect our national security. We have a wide range of powers and techniques at our disposal to disrupt travel and manage the risk posed by returnees. Criminal investigations and decisions to prosecute depend on the circumstances and available evidence of each individual case and are a matter for the police and CPS.

HM Treasury

World War I: Debts

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Young of Cookham on 25 October (HL2303), what proportion of the redemptions were made to the US, and when.

Lord Young of Cookham: The War Bonds referenced in HL2303 were largely held by British citizens, and originally sold by the government as a way to support the war effort. One of these, the 3½ War Loan, was the most widely held gilt, with more than 120,000 holders at the time of redemption, of which 97,000 held less than £1,000 nominal. The Treasury does not hold detailed information on the identity of underlying individuals or organisations who own gilts. In any case, information relating to who may have received payment in respect of the redemption of these gilts is not reflective of who may have originally contributed to the war effort as the bonds have been freely traded in the intervening period. However, I can confirm that £2.3 million was repaid to registered holders with an address in the United States (0.09% of the total amount outstanding at the time of redemption).

Public Finance

Lord Wigley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their latest estimate of the effect of the loss of value of the pound sterling on the 2016–17 estimated budget deficit.

Lord Young of Cookham: There have been no new estimates for the 2016-17 budget deficit since March 2016. The independent Office for Budget Responsibility will produce an updated forecast for the 2016-17 budget deficit at the Autumn Statement on 23 November. This will take into account the most recent economic data, including changes in exchange rates and their independent judgments.

Inflation

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they plan to take in response to any impact on retail prices of the UK’s decision to leave the EU.

Lord Young of Cookham: The independent Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of England has responsibility for monetary policy, and its remit it set by the Government. The MPC’s primary objective is to ensure price stability, which the Government believes to be an essential pre-requisite to longer-term growth and macroeconomic stability.The MPC considers the impact of wide range of financial market and economic factors on consumer prices in determining the appropriate setting of monetary policy.

Business: Investment

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they plan to take to restore the confidence of large UK companies in investment, in the light of the UK’s decision to leave the EU.

Lord Young of Cookham: The Government is determined to make a success of Brexit, and is developing an industrial strategy that will boost productivity and investment. We will continue to monitor the economy as we approach the Autumn Statement. The Government is speaking regularly to companies from a wide range of sectors to understand their concerns following the referendum, and will continue these conversations as we develop our economic policy. The fundamentals of the UK economy remain strong, and recent figures show the economy grew by 0.5% in the three months from July, exceeding expectations. The UK is in a position of strength, with a world class science base, the lowest corporation tax in the G20, and plans to invest over £100 billion in infrastructure this Parliament. Nissan’s recent announcement that the company will continue to invest in the UK is a further vote of confidence in the UK and follows on from announcements of investment from Softbank, GlaxoSmithKline, and others.

EU Budget: Contributions

Lord Pearson of Rannoch: To ask Her Majesty’s Government at current exchange rates what is the UK's (1) gross, and (2) net, contribution in sterling to the EU budget; and how those figures were calculated.

Lord Young of Cookham: Details of UK net contributions to the EU Budget over the period 2011-12 to 2015-16 can be found in Table C1, page 194, of the 2016 Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses (Cm 9322) which was published in July, and is available in the House library. This table also includes the Office for Budget Responsibility’s March forecast of UK net contributions to the EU Budget for the period 2016-17 to 2019-20.

Financial Markets

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what directions they have issued to the Financial Conduct Authority's members on the European Securities and Markets Authority concerning representations they should make on the location of central clearing houses and the protocols for offsetting collateral, and how this work is being co-ordinated with the UK’s overall negotiating strategy with the EU.

Lord Young of Cookham: The ability to clear financial instruments denominated in different currencies in the same UK clearing house (CCP) brings considerable efficiency savings to customers. UK CCPs are supervised to the highest global standards by the Bank of England and the Government will continue to ensure the UK’s financial industry remains a world leader.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Brexit

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are planning to give immediate notice under Article 50 that the UK intends to leave the EU.

Lord Bridges of Headley: We must leave in the way agreed in law by Britain and other member states, which means following the process set out in Article 50 of the Treaty on the European Union. The Prime Minister has been clear we will trigger Article 50 by the end of March 2017.

EU Countries: British Nationals Abroad

Lord Green of Deddington: To ask Her Majesty’s Government which EU governments have publicly indicated that the existing rights of British citizens resident in their territory will be preserved after the UK has left the EU; and the terms in which they have done so.

Lord Bridges of Headley: The Prime Minister has made it clear that she wants to protect the status of EU nationals living in the UK, and the only circumstances in which that would not be possible is if British citizens’ rights in EU member states were not protected in return. To date, we are not aware of any member state reaching a formal view on this issue. At every step of these negotiations we will work to ensure the best possible outcome for the people of the United Kingdom.

Brexit

Baroness Smith of Basildon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether there are any circumstances, as part of the negotiations for the UK’s exit from the EU, whereby a new treaty would have to be signed; and what implications this would have on the expected introduction of a bill to repeal the European Communities Act 1972.

Lord Bridges of Headley: The Government will bring forward legislation in the next session that, when enacted, will repeal the European Communities Act 1972 on the day we leave the EU. This ‘Great Repeal Bill’ will end the authority of EU law and return power to the UK.Under Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union, the arrangements relating to the UK’s withdrawal are to be made between the UK and the EU in a withdrawal treaty. Our efforts will be focused on getting the best deal possible for the UK in the negotiations with the EU. The Government will observe the constitutional and legal precedents that apply to the deal that we will negotiate with the EU.

European Court of Human Rights

Baroness Smith of Basildon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to include changes to the UK’s relationship with the European Court of Human Rights in the expected bill to repeal the European Communities Act 1972.

Lord Bridges of Headley: The European Convention on Human Rights is a treaty under the auspices of the Council of Europe, an entirely separate organisation from the European Union. The Government has no plans to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights.

Department for International Trade

EU External Trade

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether there are countries outside the single market which carry out a greater level of trade with the rest of the EU than with the UK; and if so, which countries.

Lord Price: Data are not available from a single source for trade in goods and services combined. The value of trade is calculated by summing exports and imports. The single market here is defined as the EU countries.Data for 2014 taken from Eurostat show there were 194 countries and territories where the value of trade in goods with the rest of the EU was higher than the value of trade in goods with the UK. These countries are listed in Table 1 - attached.Data for 2014 taken from Eurostat show there were 200 countries and territories where the value of trade in services with the rest of the EU was higher than the value of trade in services with the UK. These countries are listed in Table 2 - attached.



Table 1 - value of trade in goods 
(Word Document, 31.55 KB)




Table 2 - value of trade in services 
(Word Document, 33.56 KB)

Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the relative costs to the UK and the EU if the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement between the EU and Canada is not agreed.

Lord Price: The Government welcomes the signature of the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) agreement on Sunday 30 October, after agreement was reached by all Member States on Friday 28 October. CETA is an important trade agreement for the UK, according to estimates by the European Commission, the agreement could lead to GDP gains for the EU as a whole of up to €11.6bn per year.

World Trade Organisation

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the future relationship between the UK and the World Trade Organisation following the UK's withdrawal from the EU.

Lord Price: The UK is a founding Member of the World Trade Organisation in its own right. We will update the terms of our membership as necessary and will work closely with other members to minimise disruption to our trading relationships.

World Trade Organisation

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they last held discussions with the World Trade Organisation's Director General; and when they next expect to meet him.

Lord Price: My Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade last met with the World Trade Organisation Director General on the 27th September 2016, and expects to meet him shortly.

Department of Health

Cancer: Thromboembolism

Baroness Masham of Ilton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the study by the All-Party Parliamentary Thrombosis Group that over 4,000 cancer deaths have been caused by preventable blood clots, whether they intend to review the training provided to oncology nurses in managing the risk of venous thromboembolism in cancer patients.

Lord Prior of Brampton: It is the responsibility of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) to set the standards and outcomes for education and training, and to approve training curricula to ensure newly qualified nurses and midwives are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to provide high quality patient care. Health Education England works with bodies that set curricula such as the NMC and the Royal College of Nursing to seek to ensure training meets the needs of patients.

Junior Doctors: Temporary Employment

Baroness Shephard of Northwold: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the costs resulting from the employment of junior doctors on temporary contracts, how many appointments of junior doctors on temporary contracts lasting more than six months have been approved by NHS England in the last year for which figures are available; and what are their reasons for approving those appointments.

Lord Prior of Brampton: In July 2015, the Secretary of State announced a series of measures to bring trusts’ spending on agency staff under control. Trusts are using these measures to negotiate lower rates and secure a better deal for taxpayers. In 2015-16 the National Health Service spent £300 million less than projected on agency staff. Further savings are forecast for the current financial year.Individual trusts have the freedom to apply independent processes for approving the appointment of locum staff. Individual appointments do not require central approval by NHS England.The compliance data that trusts report to NHS Improvement does not include detail that would enable the tracking of grade or length of employment. However, on 7th October 2016, the Chief Executive of NHS Improvement wrote to trusts asking them to publish anonymised lists of agency workers who have been employed at trusts for more than six months. This information will be published by trusts later this year, but will not be broken down by grade.

Disability: Employment Schemes

Baroness Garden of Frognal: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the case for more resources to be made available for specialist support models for people with complex support needs, and who do not benefit from the Work and Health Programme.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The Government recognises the challenges of helping those with the most complex health conditions move closer to work. The new Personal Support Package announced in Improving Lives: The Work, Health and Disability Green Paper introduces a range of new measures and interventions designed as part of a package of support which can be tailored to people’s individual needs. The offer, which applies to all Employment and Support Allowance claimants (and Universal Credit equivalents), includes personal support from disability trained, accredited work coaches, with a focus on mental health. Work coaches will be supported by an additional 300 Disability Employment Advisers and around 200 new community partners with disability expertise and local knowledge. This will lead to better signposting to other local voluntary and public sector services that may be available. A copy of the Green Paper is attached. The Government recognises that more needs to be done to help people stay well at work, including those with complex health conditions. The consultation on the Green Paper will help us to consider appropriate new models of support to help more people with disabilities or long term conditions to enter and remain in work.



HL2666 Green Paper
(PDF Document, 2.57 MB)

Continuing Care

Baroness Massey of Darwen: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether NHS-funded continuing healthcare is available for hospice patients receiving palliative care; and what distinction, if any, is drawn between patients in hospices and those in nursing homes in determining the availability of continuing healthcare.

Lord Prior of Brampton: Eligibility for NHS Continuing Healthcare (NHS CHC) is not limited by the setting in which the package of support can be offered or by the type of service delivery. When making decisions about eligibility for NHS CHC there is no distinction drawn between individuals residing in hospices and those in nursing homes.

General Practitioners: Retirement

Lord Wigley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many general practitioners in England retired during the past 12 months; and, of those, how many were aged under 60 at the time of retirement.

Lord Prior of Brampton: For the last 12 months for which data is available, (the period 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2016) 992 general practitioners retired and claimed retirement benefits from the NHS Pension Scheme in England and Wales. Of these, 580 were under 60 years of age. General practitioners, in common with other staff groups, are able to claim retirement benefits and return to the National Health Service. This may be on a full time or part-time basis. This is common practice but exact numbers are not known.

Mental Health Services

Lord Porter of Spalding: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the publication in July of Implementing the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health, whether they intend to publish a national Mental Health Strategy.

Lord Prior of Brampton: I refer the noble Lord to the answer I gave on 3 November 2016 to Question HL2508. The Government welcomed the independent taskforce’s recommendations for mental health and fully endorses the report. We continue to work across Government departments to progress taking the taskforce recommendations forward.

Mental Health Services

Lord Porter of Spalding: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made on creating parity of esteem between mental and physical health; and how they are currently measuring this.

Lord Prior of Brampton: I refer the noble Lord to the answer I gave on 3 November 2016 to Question HL2509. The Government remains committed to achieving parity of esteem for mental and physical health. The Government welcomed the publication of the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health and Future in Mind: Promoting, protecting and improving our children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing to transform mental health services by 2020, which is a significant step forward in achieving parity of esteem between mental and physical health. We continue to work with NHS England and other arm’s length bodies to embed the recommendations set out in these reports into our national policies and we are committed to reporting regularly and transparently on our progress. We will be holding NHS England to account through the NHS Mandate to ensure that we deliver the commitments set out in these reports.

NHS: Managers

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they have taken to remove the use of confidentiality agreements in relation to the dismissal of senior NHS executives.

Lord Prior of Brampton: Settlement agreements, including confidentiality clauses, are not required where an employee is dismissed including, for example, dismissal for gross misconduct. Such agreements are used where the employer and employee mutually agree to bring the employment relationship to an end, typically following an employment dispute. Settlement agreements are a matter for individual employers and no agreement can prevent either party from making a disclosure in the public interest if they choose to do so.

Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they endorse the decision of the Southport and Ormskirk NHS Trust to withhold from the public domain the reasons for the dismissal of the Chief Executive of the Trust.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The Southport & Ormskirk Hospitals NHS Trust advises that, in line with its employment policies, the Chief Executive has the right of appeal against the decision of the disciplinary panel, and it would therefore be inappropriate and unfair to comment on the allegations. The Trust has said that no aspect of the disciplinary investigation related to issues of patient care or safety.

In Vitro Fertilisation

Lord Winston: To ask Her Majesty’s Government with regard to (1) oocytes frozen for a patient's own use in the UK, and (2) frozen oocytes used for the purpose of donation to another woman, for each year from 2008 to 2015 (a) how many oocytes were frozen and how many have been thawed for the purposes of treatment by in vitro fertilisation; (b) of those which were thawed, how many were successfully fertilised and appeared to develop normally; and (c) of those, how many were transferred to a uterus, and how many of those transfers resulted in (I) a pregnancy, (ii) miscarriage, or (iii) live birth.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has provided data which can be found in the attached document. Table 1 shows the numbers of oocytes that have been frozen. Table 2 shows where a patient’s own oocytes have been thawed for their own use. Table 3 shows where the patient has used thawed donated oocytes and the outcomes. Table 1 is below. Tables 2 and 3 can be found in the attached document. Table 1 - the numbers of oocytes that have been frozen. Year of TreatmentNumber of eggs frozen for patient’s own useNumber of eggs frozen for donation2008236711720092697156201028568020113846244201245834562013594510902014719024972015 (Mid year for treatments)44312265 



Tables 2 and 3
(PDF Document, 69.47 KB)

In Vitro Fertilisation

Lord Winston: To ask Her Majesty’s Government with regard to (1) oocytes frozen for a patients' own use in the UK, and (2) frozen oocytes used for the purpose of donation to another woman, in how many cases for each year from 2008 to 2015 more than one embryo was transferred simultaneously to the uterus and how many multiple pregnancies or multiple births have resulted.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has provided data in the following table.Patients using their own eggs:Year of treatmentMultiple Embryo Transfer eventsIncidences of Multiple births or pregnancies from multiple embryo transfer events20081002009230201034Less than 5201125Less than 5201244Less than 5201346Less than 52014 (Mid year for births)5802015 (Mid year for births)38*Patients using donor eggs:Year of treatmentMultiple Embryo Transfer EventsIncidences of Multiple births or pregnancies from multiple embryo transfer events2008002009Less than 50201021Less than 52011465201244Less than 5201346Less than 52014 (Mid year for births)6472015 (Mid year for treatments)74** Part year data not available.

In Vitro Fertilisation

Lord Winston: To ask Her Majesty’s Government in each year from 2008 to 2015 what is the incidence of foetal abnormalities in births which have resulted from treatments using (1) oocytes frozen for a patients' own use in the UK, and (2) frozen oocytes used for the purpose of donation to another woman.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has provided data in the following table. The HFEA advises that it can only provide data for outcomes up to 30/06/2014. Year of TreatmentOutcomes where abnormalities, or possible abnormalities, were seenPatients using their own EggsPatients using donor eggs2008002009Less than 5020100020110Less than 52012002013002014 (mid year for births)00

In Vitro Fertilisation

Lord Winston: To ask Her Majesty’s Government in respect of (1) oocytes frozen for a patient's own use in the UK, and (2) frozen oocytes for the purpose of donation to another woman, how many patients had a live birth after they reached the age of 35.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has provided data in the following table. These treatments took place prior to 30 June 2014, which is the last date for which the HFEA holds verified data. Patients, aged 35 & over, using their own eggs in a treatment that leads to a live birth29Patients, aged 35 & over, using donated eggs in a treatment that leads to a live birth72

Health Services: Travellers

Baroness Hodgson of Abinger: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to implement the recommendation made in the Inclusion Health Board report Hidden Needs: Identifying Key Vulnerable Groups in Data Collections that Gypsies and Travellers should be designated as particularly vulnerable.

Lord Prior of Brampton: We recognise the importance of addressing the needs of vulnerable groups such as Gypsies and Travellers as part of our wider work on tackling health inequalities. We share the concerns of the Hidden Needs: Identifying Key Vulnerable Groups in Data Collection (2014) report, which identified the poor health experiences of some Gypsy and Traveller groups making them particularly vulnerable in terms of much higher rates of mortality and morbidity than the general population. The National Inclusion Health Board championed more effective local action to address these concerns. This included encouraging better local planning and commissioning of services, and improving access to them. Earlier this year, we published the board’s report Impact of insecure accommodation and the living environment on Gypsies’ and Travellers’ health (2016).This report built on concerns in earlier reports about the vulnerability of this group and sets out suggested actions to improve the living conditions and health outcomes of Gypsies and Travellers. It calls for more joined up working by local authorities, the National Health Service and responsible health agencies, and local public health services, and emphasises the importance of building greater community cohesion to address some of the key obstacles to the development of a healthy and sustainable environment for Gypsy and Traveller families. A copy of the report is attached.



Impact of insecure accommodation report
(PDF Document, 2.27 MB)

Pregnancy: Air Pollution

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to educate pregnant women about the detrimental effects of air pollution on foetuses.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The Government has produced resources to inform the public and professionals about the risks of carbon monoxide (CO) to the foetus. Elevated exposure to CO can occur indoors due to malfunctioning appliances. Sufficient “test your breath” postcards about the risks of CO have been made available for every pregnant woman for the past two years. An online training module has recently been launched, to support midwifery teams to effectively screen all pregnant women for CO. An algorithm for midwives, to help diagnose CO poisoning in pregnant women and offer advice, was also updated this year. More recently, a Foreword from the Chief Medical Officer for England introduced the report Every breath we take: The lifelong impact of air pollution which draws attention to the potential effects of indoor and outdoor air pollutants on the developing foetus, particularly the evidence for effects on premature birth and low birth weight. A copy of this report is attached.



Every breath we take report
(PDF Document, 4.05 MB)

Health Services: Reciprocal Arrangements

Lord Marlesford: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 4 April 2016 (HL7324), what are the updated figures for 2015–16 for the table showing the sums collected from and paid to EU governments for medical treatment of EU and UK citizens.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The Department, on behalf of the United Kingdom Government, reimburses other European Economic Area (EEA) countries and Switzerland for the cost of providing treatment to people we are responsible for under European Union law, irrespective of nationality. In the same way, other EEA countries and Switzerland reimburse the UK for the cost of the National Health Service providing treatment to people they are responsible for under EU law, including UK nationals insured in another EEA country or Switzerland.Figures for 2015-16 are provided in the attached table.



HL2953 table attachment
(PDF Document, 242.84 KB)